Ries joins Legacy of Discord

 

Who’s Ries when she/he/it is at home? I hear you ask. We’ll get to that in a minute. Firstly, I have some event news to get out of the way. This particular event has been designed to make fans of Legacy of Discord happy. So happy, in fact, that the event it being named after this simple premise. You are all cordially invited to the Happy Festival, the happiest in-game celebration the title has had thus far. It is a celebration, too; Legacy of Discord has been thrilling gamers for a thousand days now and has decided to commemorate the anniversary, and rightly so!

So, what can you expect from all this joy? Well, aside from the general fun and frivolity and plethora of rewards that comes with this sort of thing, there’s plenty of activities for you to get yourselves involved. Why not take part in the “guess the code” event that’s running? Not your thing? That’s fine, what about your pets; we all like our lovable companions, right? For those of you wanting to show off your furry friends you have both pet chess and pet arena which will enable you to do just that. A new photo editing feature has also been implemented for those that want to get just the right screenshot of all the fun.

Now … back to Ries. To answer that earlier question, Ries is your new mercenary. She’s a witch and like many other mercenaries has no discernible destiny; instead, her fate is leading her on a particularly dark and dangerous path. Those of you allied with her will be grateful to have her on your side and learn just how much she values her new sense of purpose.

Those of you wanting a bit of discord with your game are also in luck. YOOZOO have just launched their very own dedicated Discord server. I’m not going to insult you by explaining what Discord is but it’s always nice to have the ability to use it if you want to. If you do want to, you can go and do that here.

There you have it. A bit of fun for Legacy of Discord fans. If you’re completely new to the game, there’s something about these little events that makes them really brilliant starting points. Having the chance to win and collect cool stuff on your first time out on a new adventure is great. You never know you might have so much fun this becomes your next favourite thing. At the very least you should be happy, right?

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E3 2019: Nintendo Conference Liveblog

 

Hi, everyone! We’re down to the last big conference of E3: Nintendo’s! Join Derek once again as he reports on the Big N. The Direct is rumored to be around 45 minutes, so expect some big news. Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, DLC Fighter #2 for Smash Ultimate? The possibilities are endless.

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Forest Home comes to Switch this month

There are a few misconceptions that are often made about games. One of the worst of these is that if something is bright and colourful it’s probably for kids; small ones. This is a really dangerous assumption to be making because what you’re saying is that if it looks like a kids game not only will it be such but that it will also be really easy. You’re an adult right? Well that doesn’t stop nine year olds playing and being good at GTA 5 so it shouldn’t mean you aren’t going to get a whoopin’ from a game that looks like it was made for pre-schoolers. This pointless little tirade brings me to Forest Home, a puzzler due for Switch release come June 20th.

To put things really simply, something has gone wrong in the forest. The animals are lost and it’s up to you to guide them home. Sounds simple enough right? This is where the kicker comes in. This game has a lot of puzzles to master ranging from so easy you’ll be able to complete them with your eyes closed to just lobotomise yourself now and be done with it. This colourful game with simplistic controls and a warm fuzzy theme might just be about to ruin your day. In a good way.

The gameplay itself is simple. All you need to do is draw paths for your little forest friends to follow until they reach safety. This will see them navigating bridges, avoiding obstacles and eating food as they go. You’ll also find challenging boss levels wrapped into the mix which will involve the game’s antagonist, a certain mischievous goblin.

As well as being plentiful levels are also diverse and you are invited to explore a total of eight different forests ranging from deep woods to mangrove swamps. We all like collecting things right? Well to add to the fun you’ll get a scrapbook to fill with loads of unlockables and secret rewards. If a thousand plus puzzles aren’t enough to keep you going this certainly should.

Forest Home has also been optimised for Switch players. This will give you new puzzle layouts and a re-worked campaign with rewards especially designed for users of the console. This is essentially a mobile port which means that the game naturally suits your Switch handheld for play on the go.

Something else that’s been added which I think is really cool are new colour blind modes. These are designed to help those of you with Protanopia, Deuteranopia and Tritanopia. The fact that the devs are thinking this way is something to be noted and admired.

If you want to get your mitts on Forest Home try and get in there during the first week of release. European and American players will be able to get a 20% discount on the game during this time. Forest Home will normally be selling for $14.99 but for the early birds out there it’ll be $11.99; which is a bargain when you consider the amount of content you’re being given for your money. Those of you who like brain teasers might have just found a new way to frustrate yourselves.

 

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E3 2019: Micsosoft Conference Liveblog

 

Greetings once again, fellow readers! Our very own Derek Bartnett is back again, giving us a liveblog of Microsoft’s press conference. With Sony backing out of the show this year, Microsoft has the potential to make E3 2019 its own. With a whopping 14 first-party reveals up its sleeve, the company may be able to back its word up. Join TVGB in a few to find out.

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PREVIEW / Second Hand: Frankie’s Revenge (PC)

 

When aliens invade the planet and build an unstoppable army of robots, the only logical way to fight back is with an even better robot; preferably with a disco ball head and a bat with a nail in it. This is the route humanity takes in Rikodu’s Second Hand: Frankie’s Revenge; an early access title that just released on Steam. A cartoonish 4 player co-op action battler that lets each player piece together their perfect fighting machine to take back the planet from the alien robot menace.

 

 

The biggest point that must be addressed, first and foremost, is the customization options which are broken down into 5 major areas: head, main weapon, off hand weapon, body, and wheels. Each piece of equipment also comes with several unlockable skins to finely tune the look of Frankie. Instead of a disco ball head, he can have a disco ball with an afro or a head. You can also use different skins to customize items in your base, which acts as a hub area to choose levels and loadouts. As far as I know the only purpose these base customization’s have right now is to flex on your friends in the local and online co-op.

These skins can be unlocked by buying them with in-game currency, which are bolts that enemies drop pretty frequently, or by opening toolboxes that are awarded upon leveling up Frankie. The toolbox is functionally a loot box that will award 1 skin for either the base customization or for a random part Frankie has in his arsenal. As far as I know, there are no ways to use real life money to unlock skins or loot boxes, so there’s no malicious gambling going on in Second Hand.

 

 

Despite customization being a major selling point of the game, I still felt a bit underwhelmed by the options offered. As of this look at the game, there are 4 different heads, 5 main weapons, 5 off hand weapons, 3 Body types, and 3 types of legs to be used by Frankie. The legs vary up Frankie’s walk speed, the body adjusts the balance of HP and energy reserves for special attacks. The main weapons range from a sword to a chainsaw for melee, and glue gun for slowing enemies and healing allies. Off hand weapons have more ranged ability or can stun enemies. Special attacks change with the headpiece Frankie wears, with the starting head being a disco ball that dazes enemies in range.

While on paper it may seem like a lot of options, there were several pieces that functioned very similarly. I was able to get a taste of each piece of equipment fairly quickly, as the gear unlocks at a steady pace. It’s worth noting that I was able to get a new piece of gear after each level completed and the game still has several blanked out sections. Meaning this is likely just a slice of content for the preview build, so I can’t knock it too hard for what it’s offering at the moment. Hopefully there are more options added, as of right now there are just enough pieces to make a rounded team with melee users, a ranged fighters, and healing specialists.  

 

 

In this preview build I was given a look at 12 levels across 2 different campaigns as well as the boss fight for the first campaign.These levels often followed a similar pattern; go through a mostly linear path while fighting off randomly spawning enemy robots. Some levels would have Frankie escorting a payload that the player has to fuel up intermittently, some required Frankie to sabotage the enemy robot’s production machinery. Despite the overarching goal of the level, the majority of your time in Second Hand will be spent blasting robots with your preferred loadout.

The robot blasting is fun! Doubly so with friends by your side for support. Frankie moves very fluidly in a twin stick shooter style with a useful dash feature, making it easy to kite hordes of robots or to close the gap on an enemy showing an opening and then get out before they can retaliate. The enemy types are varied and keeps each engagement interesting. They’re also wonderfully designed in the same cartoony style as Frankie, making these fights visually appealing as well. One of the most interesting parts of the game was that at the end of each level you have to call in an evac and then get your jetpack to boost you out of the map while hordes of enemies chase you around. It’s hectic fun and makes every level a challenge from start to finish.

 

 

Having a partner or team really sets Second Hand apart from the crowd. By yourself Second Hand can get a touch monotonous by running through objectives, killing robots; rinse and repeat. However once you get a team you have more freedom to try different things. You can have your teammate heal, while another pushes the payload and you keep the enemy robots off their tail. The options of gameplay really open up a lot more once the team gets involved and this is something I’d like to see developed more in time. Maybe introduce more Frankie parts that work as a support tool and make strategizing more in depth.

Second Hand: Frankie’s Revenge is a hectic fun battler that is still in its infancy, but there are a lot of exciting places for the game to go as it traverses early access. The content available was a little on the shallow end for its first release, but the times I had while working through this portion of the game were filled with more good than bad. There were definitely moments I was left wanting more. Luckily Rikodu has dedicated to adding more parts and modes in the coming weeks as Second Hand goes through it’s first steps of early access. As it is now, the game is a stylishly cartoony way for you and some buddies to kill some hours and even more robots.

 

 

 

This preview is based on an early release copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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New platform added to release date of Lost Words: Beyond the Page

 

Lost Words: Beyond the Page looks to be a visually striking and emotionally engaging puzzle platformer. It previously was announced with a release date that included PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. Now, however, Publisher Modus Games and developer Sketchbook Games have announced that the Nintendo Switch has been added to the list of platforms at launch.

This announcement comes coupled with a brand new trailer that introduces the beautifully animated world of Lost Words:

Lost Words: Beyond the Page puts players in the role of of a young girl as she adventures through the world of Estoria. Puzzle-platforming action will ensue against a backdrop that sometimes includes the pages of a book. The story was penned by renowned writer Rhianna Pratchett, who was also lead writer on Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider. The gameplay consists of interacting with words themselves as players progress through platforming segments and solve challenging puzzles.

The release date for Lost Words: Beyond the Page is set for December 2019.

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REVIEW / Swag and Sorcery (PC)

 

The problem with reviewing is you find yourself lumping titles into boxes. Firstly, there’s the “It stinks but I’ll slog through it if I have to” box. I don’t always want to play something but in fairness to you lot and deference to my ebbing sanity sometimes I have to, but thankfully very few games go here. Secondly, there’s the “I’m playing this for review but I’ve got too many other things to look at to keep going” box. I love a game, and as much as I’d also love to admit I go back and finish everything I start, I’d be lying. Lastly, there is the very rare “I’d forgotten I was supposed to be reviewing this and I’m playing it like I’ve bought it” box. This is where Swag and Sorcery falls; it’s great for when you don’t have a lot of time to play anything else.

 

 

There is that little spell of time that occurs most days. I might be getting ready for work, or having a coffee before I go out, or anything really that means I don’t have a lot of time to kill but still want to get my gaming fix. Swag and Sorcery is one of those games that scratches the itch perfectly. I call them coffee break games because it’s exactly what they’re excellent for. I’m not saying you can’t pick this up and play in long spells, you can and I have but just a ten or twenty minute burst can be enough this is brilliant. Right … enough waffle; on to the game.

Swag and Sorcery is the most non-idle, idle game I’ve ever played. As a rule I don’t like idlers. I want to be able to play a title and certainly don’t want my game playing itself for me. This game turns the idler onto it’s head. The core mechanic is basically idle, you send your heroes off and get you stuff or get killed depending on how you’ve prepared them. You can watch them on their adventures but it’s not necessary and while they’re questing you can get on with the best bit of the game. The planning, building, crafting and mission completing that goes on in the background.

 

Your village is the heart of the game.

 

This clever little game is by Lazy Bear Games, the same folk behind Graveyard Keeper and it shows. As in the aforementioned game you’re given bugger all and have to do all the work yourself. The majority of this goes on in your town. You start with a guild and this is where you buy your sword fodder, (heroes,) who start out as just your average unfortunate soul off the street. You do this by outfitting them and training them into the classes that RPG fans will know and love. This means erecting more buildings. For fighting equipment you’ll need a forge, for mage’s gear a magic shop and so on. This is where the game starts to get interesting.

All of the buildings in your town are upgradable. Each time you level a shop that building’s inventory expands and you can better equip your characters. It’s not just the town you’re looking after though, you need goods to make the items to outfit your heroes and it’s these items you’re sending them on their quests for. There’s a plot to but we’ll get to that in a minute. So for swords you need Iron ingots. This means you need iron ore. Better swords require better ore and additional, sometimes semi-magical components. These magic ingredients can’t just be found, they like everything else in the game need to be made.

 

If you’re board question you can always enroll in a fashion show.

 

To make a set of semi-decent armor you might need a sorrow stone. To get one of these items you’ll need to obtain ghost tears and take them to your potion shop and make the stone there. Two sets of tears plus other ingredients might equal one stone and you might need six stones plus all the other ingredients for for the item you’re crafting. This is just one item. This principle follows through the entire game and this is where the grind comes in.

The grind doesn’t actually feel all too bad. The reason for this is that you’re always thinking about the next task you have to complete. As long as you have a decent sized party you can send a couple out to get the goods while others remain in town. To make items you have to staff buildings with your adventurers. So the best person to staff a blacksmith is going to be a fighter. The quality of gear from that shop relies on a good strength stat. Fighters are built to be strong so will fare better, a mage on the other hand will be needed for a magic shop as it’s gear relies on intelligence. As long as you can plan correctly there is plenty for you to do other than watch the same quest animation on loop for hours.

 

Every adventure yields look. It’s all about what you do with it.

 

Swag and Sorcery has a really addictive nature. I think this comes down to the fact that you never feel like you’ve gotten to a stage where there’s nothing more you can do. You’re always multi-tasking and thinking about the next thing you need to make or how you might train your characters for more difficult battles to come. The fact that you’re constantly concentrating on bettering your town and heroes also means that there aren’t any massive difficulty spikes. If you’re having a tough time you just need to refocus your efforts on building the right gear to succeed and this is all very doable.

I mentioned the story earlier. The basic premise involves a big evil (obviously) and a nasty advisor (it’s fantasy, so also obviously), and the king’s costume. This is where the comedic element of the game comes in. You’re looking for a particular set of garments that will be needed to save the day. These are hidden in places full of really evil things. Most of us would use a wardrobe but each to their own. Leading on from this fashion … really silly fashion … is very much a thing. You can put your heroes into fashion shows to build prestige for your town. This is fun and gives you something different to think about. Not all the gear your make is serious, in fact one of the weapons in an electric guitar. Seriously, play the game it’s really funny in places and very well written.

 

Equipment is vital to success and you’ll make every bit of it.

 

From the slightly silly story comes your missions. You have main missions which want you to upgrade your town, make specific items, kill bosses etc. These are needed to give the game form and pace and give you a good idea what the hell you’re doing. Then you have sub-missions which are basically fetch quests which might involve killing so many creatures or retrieving a certain number of items. We’ve all seen this in RPGs so nothing new there. Lastly you have events. These are little story elements that crop up at random and require you to make a choice or hand over gold or resources. These can appear at any time and are worth doing as they can yield some pretty handy stuff.

Okay so nuts and bolts. Graphically we’re going back into the 16 bit realm. This is great and gives the game a comfortable retro feel. This is like something I’d have happily stuck into my Megadrive and whiled away a few hours on as a kid. Sound is virtually nonexistent and what is there is a little repetitive. It’s not enough to cause annoyance but not really worth commenting much on either. One notable point on this, though, is the narration which is brilliant. As for the controls it’s all mouse managed which makes everything run smooth and easily. Considering the mental gymnastics that are going on here some simplicity is very much a welcome thing.

 

Adventuring is fun but it’s only a tiny part of the game.

 

As I said at the start of this review I think I decided I liked Swag and Sorcery before I actually decided I liked the game. By this I mean that I was subconsciously playing it for hours on end and then just happened to remember I needed to tell you lot about it as well. This in my opinion says something. I’m not sure whether I’d want to spend an entire afternoon indulging in Swag and Sorcery but for an hour or two at a time this is a great little game.

Swag and Sorcery is a really fun title if you’re looking for something to do that won’t be overly engrossing. If you like crafting games and don’t want something that is asking to eat your life this might be a really good way to go. It’s not a block buster but it’s a really serviceable and fun experience and well worth a try.

 

 

 

Look and Feel: 7/10
Challenge: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Story: 7/10

7.5/10

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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